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educational-attainment-race-ethnicity.csv	educational-attainment-race-ethnicity.csv
educational-attainment.csv	educational-attainment.csv
readme.md	readme.md

Educational Attainment

This measure reports the proportion of residents in the Chicago region who are age 25 and older holding an associate’s degree or higher. Higher levels of educational attainment create benefits for both individuals and regional economies. As residents receive additional postsecondary education, they can generally expect increased median earnings and a decreased likelihood of joblessness. On a regional scale, these trends translate to lower unemployment rates and greater economic output. The inclusion of associate’s degrees in this measure helps to highlight the important role community colleges play in improving education and workforce development, and reflects the significance of “middle-skill” jobs in our regional economy.

educational-attainment.csv

Header	Definition
`YEAR`	Year of observation
`PCT_ASSOC_DEG_PLUS`	Percentage of population aged 25+ with an associate's degree or higher
`ACTUAL_OR_TARGET`	`Actual` if the record is from observed data; `Target` if it is an ON TO 2050 target

Source: CMAP analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS)

Geography: Seven-county CMAP region

Educational Attainment by Race and Ethnicity

As a secondary indicator, ON TO 2050 also tracks the proportion of residents in the Chicago region who are age 25 and older holding an associate’s degree or higher by race and ethnicity. Disparate outcomes exist across races and ethnicities in educational attainment. Black and Hispanic residents have educational attainment rates lower than the regional average and significantly lower than Asian and White residents.

Note about 2020 data: Due to data quality concerns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Census Bureau will not publish 1-year ACS summary tables for 2020. To obtain a 2020 estimate, CMAP instead used the 2020 ACS 1-Year Public Use Microdata Sample with Experimental Weights. Since this data is only available for Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs), the 2020 estimate represents the closest possible approximation of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): the Illinois and Wisconsin portions are accurately represented, but the Indiana counties of Jasper and Newton were omitted because they share a PUMA with the slightly more populous counties of Fulton, Pulaski and Starke, which are not part of the MSA.